Book of Ruth

Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz thrive during a dark time in Israel’s history—the days when the judges governed. The final two segments in Judges (chaps. 17–21) summarily demonstrate that when autonomy prevails, people and society deteriorate into spiritual and moral chaos. According to many scholars, the book of Ruth stands as an independent novella encouraging random acts of love and kindness. On the other hand, many Bible interpreters contend that the book of Ruth whispers daringly as a diatribe of two industrious women who manipulate a male-dominated society through sexual prowess in order to survive. Through the grammatical-historical method and a close examination of the canonical text, I conclude that these books are integrally connected and that the characters in Ruth provide a stark contrast to those in the summary episodes of Judges. I show that through the use of historical setting, behavioral contrasts, and intertextual connections with Torah the author of the book of Ruth provides a subtle polemic against personal autonomy. This polemic, although specific to its historical backdrop when the judges governed, continues to cry out against personal autonomy and provide hope through obedience to the spirit of Torah.

The difficult phrase זה שבתה הבית מעט of Ruth 2,7 likely represents a deliberate device to depict confused and apologetic speech because of an incident of sexual harassment. This hypothesis (1) explains why Boaz noticed Ruth; 2) makes vv. 8.9 appropriate to their context; 3) explains the current form of the text and the inability of the versions to translate it; 4) is a useful hypothesis, adding significance to other parts of the book; 5) brings the passage up to the stylistic level of the rest of the book; 6) reiterates Ruth’s untenable social status; and 7) reiterates the element of providential interference guiding the fate of David’s ancestors.

Many children in South Africa grow up in townships, where they are exposed to violence, drugs, gangs, and poverty. Difficulties in their home situations result in many of them lacking soft skills that enable a person to thrive (such as self-esteem, self-confidence, and the ability to communicate well). This chronic deprivation is an ongoing trauma which requires intervention to promote healing. Using the arts and sport to provide such intervention has been found to be successful, but theorists posit that drama could have value for social and emotional learning. This study tests that hypothesis: two groups (a group of grade 7 learners and a group of adults from a Bible-study fellowship) participate in a dramatic presentation of the biblical story of Ruth. Over a period of six months, the participants meet weekly (in their respective groups) for an hour to learn the story and find their way of expressing it. Three performances before various audiences are presented. To highlight emotional issues in the story, a jester is included in the cast, with the role of interrupting the story at appropriate places and asking the audience questions as to the motivations and moods of the characters. This prompts the audience to reflect on their own emotional responses to various difficult situations with which they readily identify. By considering their own viewpoints, and those of others, audience members are stretched in their social and emotional learning. Moreover, it is apparent that, through the drama experience, the actors gain significantly in self-esteem, self-confidence, and their ability to speak in public before an audience (even adult strangers). This article provides a stimulus for using performance of a biblical text to explore options for dealing with traumatic situations.

People are kind and loving to each other in the Book of Ruth. So God blesses everyone.
The Book of Ruth is pivotal in our human evolution, as discussed in the forthcoming Red Line of Hope.
This is an appendix for that book; it is a (nearly) line-by-line commentary on the Book of Ruth

It is well known to both translators and students of the Bible, that some words or verses are very difficult, not only
to translate but also to understand. The Hebrew text of Ruth 2:7b is one of them. The purpose of this paper is to
consider some of the inherent problems of this text—such as unclear meaning of words and uncanny grammatical
structures—and to provide an overview of ancient and modern ways to deal with the difficulties. While it is logical
to assume that the author of Ruth expected to be understood (including when resorting to intentional ambiguity),
we also need to consider that the original manuscripts are lost and that the possibility of a corrupted text could
explain its awkwardness. The various translations of Ruth 2:7b stem from attempts to make sense of a text of which
the exact original, word-by-word meaning might not be established beyond all reasonable doubt, but of which the
basic intended meaning seeps through unmistakably: Ruth indeed is a hard worker, worthy of Boaz’s attentions.

This article develops what I call 'prac crip' as an innovative methodology to perform on the page the scholarly realities of working, living and writing with the disability of repetitive strain injury. Prac crip is a prac crit of crips that complicates liberatory crip criticism. It shows how repetitive strain injury changes an approach to practical criticism, but also, by association with 'crit' , how practices of practical criticism with repetitive strain injury shift some key uses of the 'crip'. Critical of this mode of cripping as well as cripical, prac crip demonstrates the emancipatory limits of practising crip criticism for those crips the work also hurts in the act. Peter Larkin's fascination with gleaning runs parallel to the rise of lean. To glean and its derivatives have a 'distinctive presence' in his lexis from Pastoral Advert (1988) to Seven Leaf Sermons (2018), a thirty-year period during which lean management has become increasingly global. The article traces through Larkin the eco-politically crucial relationships between the common right of gathering after harvest known as gleaning, historically, a practice for disabled people; the gesture of leaning; and the genealogy of global lean management technologies in the packing of lean meat. The essay explores how disability is an integral part of how its readings are produced, as well as addressing the predicament that work-related upper limb disorders, which are driven by lean managed environments, continue to be driven by writing against lean managed environments.

Mission Round Table 15:1 (Jan-Apr 2020): 42-43.

In this insightful interview, Scott Callaham highlights key challenges issued in World Mission: Theology, Strategy, and Current Issues. The book was written not only for mission practitioners, mission agencies, and seminaries, but for all biblically- and theologically-engaged Christians. Covering themes not seen in contemporary books on mission, the contributors to the book are not merely advocating returning to the Bible as a guide for the theology and practice of mission (although these aspects of mission clearly need to be reformed) but are aiming for a complete rethinking of world mission that takes us back to the source—the Bible.

Scholarship on ethnicity in the book of Ruth has taken it as axiomatic that Ruth is transformed (at least partially) into an Israelite by the end of the book. This article argues on narrative grounds that the book of Ruth continues to present Ruth as a Moabite, even at the book’s end. Moreover, scholarship has been mistaken in attempting to force an ancient text to function according to modern constructivist assumptions about ethnicity. Although from our perspective as modern readers, Ruth may undergo changes that would qualify as ethnic transformation, the book of Ruth describes her change in social and kinship terms, rather than ethnic ones: the text itself does not imply that Ruth ceases to be a Moabite.

The article explores an unusual literary phenomenon in both biblical and Mesopotamian traditions: a consecutive order of clauses in a law collection serves to structure the plot of a later, narrative composition. The plot of Ruth follows the list of
commandments in Deut 24:16-25:10, while a portion of the Neo-Babylonian work, “Nebuchadnezzar King of Justice” follows the order of LH 1-5. Strikingly, these narrative compositions invoke the venerated law codes of their respective traditions, and yet, at the same time, the practice of those very same laws invoked, is seen to be at variance with the prescriptions of the earlier codes. The implications of the phenomenon for understanding processes of legal revision in the ancient Near East are explored.

I libri di Rut, Giuditta ed Ester sono in genere considerati testi minori, poco utilizzati in ambito liturgico e, per diversi motivi, problematici (presentano problemi testuali, o di traduzione, o di collocazione al canone, ecc.). Eppure la lettura di questi tre racconti, gli unici nel titolo il nome di una donna, riserva delle sorprese sia per

The pericope of Genesis 38:27-30 is the ending to what seems to be an oddly placed chapter within Genesis. It is a small section that, at its base level, instructs the reader about the birth of Judah’s sons by Tamar, his daughter-in-law. Many commentaries on Genesis address chapter 38, particularly with respect to the interruption of the Joseph story, the levirate and Judah’s sin, but they ignore 38:27-30, other than to note the genealogy from Judah to David and the Messiah through Perez.  But this section ties in the struggle and the elevation of the lowliest person into a position of salvation and honor within the royal family. The pericope of Genesis 38:27-30 is not just an aid to understanding genealogies, but the happy culmination to the negativity of the previous sections in the chapter. It draws the reader to wonder again about the ‘chosen-ness’ of the line, and the Jewish nation. This pericope is the elevation of an outsider, grafted into the royal line.

Author: Samuel C. Long
Publisher: CBE International

From beginning to end, the story of Ruth captures the attention of the reader. Though a story of the ebb and flow of ancient human existence—famine and death, gleaning and feasting—the story and the character of Ruth have transcended these ordinary occurrences. Ruth contains many elements that make for good story—tragedy, conflict, romance, and redemption to name a few. This gripping story causes “the emotions of the reader to fluctuate between hope and despair until the very end when what began with multiple tragedies comes to a triumphant and happy conclusion.” Perhaps the evocative nature of the story contributes to the vastly different uses of this book and the character of Ruth. Dante calls her the “gleaner-maid, meek ancestress” of David; Bunyan casts her as Christina’s youthful companion Mercy; and Milton uses Ruth as the paradigm for a virtuous young lady. Indeed, the book of Ruth continues to be one of the most beloved among the OT scriptures. In four short chapters, the author draws the reader into the ancient Israelite experience and tells a delightful story of faithfulness and redemption. When compared with OT literature containing harsh denunciations and warnings for the Israelites regarding their conduct, Ruth’s simple tale describing a time when Israelite society functioned as God intended is refreshing.

The book of Ruth contains numerous instances of honor and shame that may be overlooked or misinterpreted by modern Western readers who, while aware of the concepts of honor and shame, tend to read scripture through the lens of guilt and innocence. This paper explores Ruth from the perspective of honor and shame in an ancient Mediterranean context by examining Naomi and Ruth's honor reversals and Boaz's skillful use of facework.

Giulio Michelini
«Identità e alterità nel libro di Rut. Lettura pragmatica a partire dall’esegesi rabbinica», in M. GRILLI – J. MALEPARAMPIL, ed., Il diverso e lo straniero nella Bibbia ebraico-cristiana. Uno studio esegetico-teologico in chiave interculturale, EDB, Bologna 2013, 133-159.

Con il presente lavoro studieremo il rapporto tra Israele e l’“altro” (lo straniero) così come emerge nel libro di Rut. Vengono prese in esame le tensioni interne al racconto, ma anche quelle che si creano tra il libro e gli altri libri del canone della Bibbia ebraica. Se da una parte si fa attenzione ai fenomeni comunicativi presenti nel racconto, tentando una lettura pragmatica di alcuni elementi di esso, dall’altra si insiste su alcune interpretazioni che di esso vengono dalla tradizione giudaica. Vengono in particolare valorizzati alcuni contributi provenienti dalla lettura rabbinica di Rut, sottolineandone però la portata esegetica che viene paragonata, per quanto possibile, alla lettura moderna di un testo basata sui metodi legati al Reader-Response Criticism.

בקיץ תשע"ו, במהלך עבודתי על עריכת ביאור מלוקט מדברי הקדמונים על מגילת רות, עברתי גם על תפסיר רס"ג למגילה שנדפס במספר מהדורות. משהו לא "הריח" ולא דמה לפירושי רס"ג המוכרים מספרי התנ"ך האחרים. כשנכנסתי לעובי הקורה הלכו החשדות וגברו, עד שהגיעו ההוכחות המוחצות, ביניהן: זהות לשונית בששת הפסוקים הראשונים לתפסיר יפת בן עלי למגילה. התברר שתרגומו של יפת הקראי (!) הגיע לתימן, כנראה בעילום שם. בתחילה הועתק בכתבי היד של תפסירי חמש מגילות בלי לייחסו לרס"ג. עם השנים התקדמו שני תהליכים: התפסיר עובד והותאם במקומות רבים לדברי רס"ג במקומות אחרים (לפעמים הועתק פירוש המתאים רק למקום האחר!), ושנית - הוא פתאום מיוחס לרס"ג. וכך הוא מוכר כיום, כתפסיר רס"ג למגילה. במאמר זה פרוסות ההוכחות לטענה זו, וגם מוהדר פירוש אחר, מהגניזה הקהירית, ששמו של רס"ג מופיע עליו בפירוש, והוא מלווה בהערות השוואה, חילופי נוסח ועוד.

Long time Dallas Theological Seminary professor Robert Chisholm wrote Interpreting the Historical Books for Kregel’s Handbooks for Old Testament Exegesis series. This new commentary on Judges and Ruth in the Kregel Exegetical Library offers a more detailed application of Chisholm’s method from that introduction. He describes this method as a “literary-theological” method (p. 14). By this he means that he attempts to track the author’s literary strategies in the canonical form of the book in order to identify the text’s theological message.

Summary:  Some notes on the concept of a rejected Messiah in Rabbinic thought and on ways in which David’s afflictions foreshadow those of Isaiah 53’s servant (Jesus).  Keywords:  Ruth Rabbah, David, Messiah, Isaiah 53, rejected, afflicted, Psalms.  Date:  Feb. 2021.

Summary:  The book of Ruth tells a story about a man and woman with a high sense of duty and an uncommon concern for the welfare of others.  As such, it’s a rare gem, which sparkles all the more brightly because of the dark and murky backdrop against which it’s framed.  (Note especially the book of Judges’ last two incidents, both of which, like the book of Ruth, unfold in and around Bethlehem.)  Why, then, spoil things with the events of ch. 3, i.e., Ruth and Boaz’s unusual night-time encounter?  The answer, I submit, involves the book of Ruth’s connections with the stories on the one hand of Judah and Tamar and on the other of Lot and his daughters.  Keywords:  Ruth, Boaz, Naomi, Tamar, Lot, Judah, intertextuality.  Date:  Dec. 2020 (updated).

In Biblical narratives, comments from the narrator can be extremely helpful for interpreting the actions of the characters within the story. After David commits adultery with Bathsheeba and attempts to cover it up, the narrator simply informs the reader, “But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD” (2 Samuel 11:27b). There’s no question regarding the morality of David’s actions after the commentator makes a statement like that. That being said, not every narrator operates in the same way. The author of Ruth for example much prefers to tell the story through the dramatic irony created by the narrative’s dialogue. Of the total eighty-five verses of the book, over fifty are taken up with dialogue.  Such an absence of explicit commentary can result in a wide variety of interpretations of the characters’ actions. The author therefore relies on the reader having a base level of outside knowledge to assist them in coming to certain intended conclusions regarding the interpretation of the book. 

Such is the case for Naomi’s actions in the first chapter of Ruth. After about ten years of living in the land of Moab and away from God’s people and God’s place, Naomi hears that the Lord has visited his people in the land of Judah and given them food. She decides to return from Moab to her home and her two daughters-in-law go on the way with her. Naomi then stops and instructs both Orpah and Ruth to return to Moab because they will have a greater likelihood of a fruitful life there. Whether they do it consciously or not, readers of Ruth then make an interpretative decision regarding the morality of Naomi’s instructions. The narrator does not present the answer and many commentators conclude that Naomi is an exemplary character.  In fact, many commentators view all the main characters in the Book of Ruth as being model figures.  There are others who question whether Naomi is meant to stand with Ruth and Boaz as an exemplary figure.  The purpose of this paper is to argue that Naomi’s actions in the first chapter of Ruth are morally suspect and therefore reflect her flawed faith which helps her to serve as an effective foil against Ruth’s exemplary faith.

Although the Book of Ruth is in many respects a classic example of biblical Hebrew narrative, with its stripped-down style and the opaqueness of its character's inner lives and motivations, there are two examples of formal poetry in the book (1:16-17 and 1:20-21). Biblical poetry works with a very different set of literary conventions than narrative, and by taking note of those conventions, we can see the distinctive contributions made by these poems to the book as a whole.

The faith of the Canaanite woman is an example to us;  it is ‘great’ in comparison to the disciples’ little faith.  The text as a whole echoes the Ruth’s encounter with Boaz, and hence resonates with John’s portrayal of Jesus as one who winnows a threshing floor.  The text encourages persistence, perseverance, and great confidence in Jesus’ goodness.

An Encounter with “The Other” in the Book of Ruth
Summary: The main hypothesis of this paper consists of the notion that the Book of Ruth is appealing for a new perception of “The Other”, in this particular case of Moabites as “The Other”. The term “Other” is used in a sense in which it is used in sociological research (identity studies) and this paper is trying to build a bridge between two realities. By building a positive image of the Moabites who are in most of the Bible the designated as The Enemy, the Book of Ruth is a valuable resource for studying the process of reevaluation of “the Other” and an appeal for a new experience of “The Other”.
▶ Key words: Bible, Holy Scripture, The Book of Ruth, Ruth, Naomi, “The Other”, otherness, othering, religious and ethnic otherness, migrations, refugees, widow, role of women, interfaith marriage, levirate marriage, integration.

Author: Timothy Paul Erdel
Publisher: CBE International

The book of Ruth is one of my favorites. A literary masterpiece, it offers a rich exploration of God’s providence, a theology of mission, and a case study in a plethora of Christian virtues, including courage, trust, generosity, hospitality, sacrifice, humility, kindness, compassion, friendship, stewardship, purity, perseverance, faith, hope, and love. There is a harvest and thanksgiving theme as well as an eschatological one. It is no accident that observant Jews make the book of Ruth the liturgical centerpiece for the twin feasts of Pentecost and First Fruits (Shavuot).

Fact:  Between them, the books of Ruth and 1 Samuel contain a genealogy and two (longish) ancestral chains.  Hypothesis: The two ancestral chains in question (both of which are found in 1 Samuel) suggest the existence of a custom where individuals are standardly defined/introduced as the descendants of four particular ancestors--i.e., as ‘A the son of B, the son of C, the son of D, the son of E’--, and that custom, I submit, is able to explain the nature of the genealogy in question (which is found at the end of Ruth).

In this paper I discuss one of the ways the gaps and ambiguities in the book of Ruth--which are, as I contend, intentional and relevant to the narration--can be understood as playing an important role in developing the theological message of the book.

This article sets out to provide a basic biblical theology for the book of Ruth, considering its historical context, its literary structure, its theological message, and its typological trajectory to Jesus Christ. Borrowing from themes found in the Pentateuch, the author seeks to show that David's genealogy and reign is a continuation of God's redemptive work in the past. In this way, the book of Ruth builds upon the preceding redemptive-historical narrative and points beyond itself to the future ingathering of the nations. Ruth is to be read as a covenantal, canonical connector that links God's covenant promises in the Torah to Davidic kingship, which then sets the trajectory to the final fulfillment of Abrahamic blessing to the nations through the Messiah. Biblical theology, properly engaged, requires an appropriate tension between unity and diversity. The unified theological message of the Bible is not monotonal but rather harmonic. The choral arrangement of the canon is filled with the bass of the Torah-narratives, the altos and tenors of the Prophets, the sopranos of the Psalms, and the baritones of the Gospels and Epistles-each one remains distinct and yet, when heard together, they create a satisfying melody that sings the song of God's redemptive work in and through Christ Jesus. The task of biblical theology is to amplify the Bible's theological harmony while at the same time recognizing the rich diversity found in each book of the canon. Paul House summarizes, "Unitary reading should proceed on a book-by-book exegetical basis so that each book's discrete message will be recognized." 1 He adds, "Unitary canonical biblical theology must be built through the sustained testimony of successive books; it must not be constructed at the expense of any part of Scripture." 2 In other words, biblical theology first listens to the individual voices of the biblical authors (in their various historical contexts) and only afterward hears those voices singing together in ca-nonical harmony.

A reading of the Book of Ruth through the dual lenses of At-One-Ment and Postcolonial Theory and Theology renders a lack of at-one-ment for all save Naomi. This paper culminates in an imagined Ruth chapter 5 where the seeds of at-one-ment are sown.

This is a Handbook about the Pentateuch and the historical/narrative books of the Old Testament, that belongs to the Series of Handbooks for the study of Theology, of the Institute of Religious Sciences of the Eclesiastical University of San Dámaso (Madrid, Spain). In this pdf you can find de introduction to the handbook and the explanation of its content. You can buy this book in: http://www.sandamaso.es/tienda/manual-de-ccrr/196-pentateuco-y-libros-historicos.html

There is no substitute for reading literature in its own language. This book is designed for those who have had an introductory course in Biblical Hebrew and who wish to begin reading the book of Ruth in Hebrew. The book supplies everything necessary: the Hebrew text, an English translation, parsing of all words, and grammar aides. No other materials are required.

Abstract
The Bridegrooms’ Diadem
Meir Bar-Ilan

This book is dedicated to the study of Jewish wedding of in antiquity from Biblical times till the end of the Talmud era with emphasize on the Rabbinic sources (ca. 1st-6th centuries C.E.). However, more evidence comes from medieval times as a comparative tool that gives an indispensable viewpoint. Since wedding is a multifarious event it is studied with the help of interdisciplinary methods. First and foremost, the text is analyzed from the literary and philological point of view. Historical, liturgical, sociological and folkloristic aspects are added. Strangely enough, most of the issues discussed herein have not been the subject of critical research until now, including all sorts of lost rituals and customs.

Chapter 1: Wedding-Songs

The aim of this chapter is to draw attention to ancient Jewish wedding-songs, a type of song usually ignored by modern scholars; there are practically no wedding-songs in contemporary Jewish tradition.

The chapter begins with a wedding-song mentioned in the Talmud, continues with one mentioned briefly in the midrash, and goes on to a text preserved in the Hebrew book of Tobit. Additional wedding-songs are dealt with, especially those that seems to be more ancient and do not display marked literary features. Of special interest are wedding-songs from Yemen and Cochin, India. Over 50 songs are discussed in an attempt to understand the special qualities of Jewish wedding-songs in antiquity. A comprehensive bibliography of Jewish wedding-songs in all periods is provided.

Chapter 2: The Seven Wedding Blessings

An integral part of any Jewish wedding is the well-known recital of the seven blessings under the canopy. This chapter seeks to analyze the development and meaning of these blessings.

The main argument is that the sources indicate a development regarding the number of blessings: in the early strata of the liturgy there were people who recited three blessings only. Later these three became four, then five and six. With the additional blessing over the wine, the wedding ceremony reached its present stage, with seven blessings.

The main theme is the form and content of the blessings, with a glance at some marginal features as well. It is shown that the meaning of the blessings is twofold, expressing both Jewish identity of the new couple through ties to family and friends, and the religious credo of their faith.

A special appendix is dedicated to the numerological value of the number seven, trying to explain its meaning as a divine blessing.

Chapter 3: Rejected or Lost Wedding Rituals

This study deals with five different aspects of wedding rituals. The main focus is on virginity and its significance, from Biblical times till the Middle-Ages.

A. According to the Bible (Deut. 22:13-21), a bridegroom may claim that his newly-wed bride was not a virgin at the time of the wedding; if his claim is found to be true – by the test of the blood of virginity on the cloth – the woman is condemned to death. The Tannaim had the same idea of the importance of virginity. Although it is assumed that the practice of displaying the stained cloth had disappeared, it actually prevails to this very day (among some Oriental Jews). In practice, all cases of a groom coming to court claiming that his bride was not a virgin were rejected (indeed, one of the claimants was punished). This change of attitude can perhaps be ascribed to the move of the Jewish people from the cultural influence of the Fertile Crescent region to Mediterranean culture (known later as "Western").

B. A special blessing used to be recited by the groom upon ascertaining the bride's virginity. The blessing is not mentioned in the Talmud, and Maimonides condemned it as immoral; it was subsequently ritually rejected. Some versions of this blessing are discussed, as well as its history.

C. According to the Mishna (Kidushin 1:1), one may “buy” a wife by three different means, one of which is intercourse. This ancient practice was stopped by Rav (3rd c. Babylonia), who ruled that one who wed his wife by intercourse should be whipped. The proof of virginity, the virginity-blessing, and wedding by intercourse are actually different aspects of the same concept: the high value placed on virginity in Jewish culture.

D. The midrash tells a story about the son of R. Aqiba and his bride, who after the wedding studied Torah “all night long”. It is proposed that this story shows that learning Torah in that society was a supreme value.

E. The tractate of Kalla Rabbati tells a story of a bride who commits adultery immediately after her wedding. After many years, this was discovered by R. Aqiba by looking at the woman’s child. It is proposed that this story was told as a kind of hagiography, to show that R. Aqiba had divine powers. It is also suggested that Kalla Rabbati originated from Mehoza and reflects a folk-religion.

Chapter 4: Wedding Stories

This study discusses stories that were told during wedding celebrations among many nations and ends with wedding stories that appear in the Bible.

In the beginning the genre of wedding-story is characterized as a story that was told in a unique occasion, or “Sitz im Leben”, as it is called among Biblical scholars. The first story to be discussed is “The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle”, known from the Arthurian legend, a story that exemplify the concept of a wedding-story. The symbols of the story are explained as well as the idea of marrying a monstrous spouse. Several stories from the collection of Grimm Brothers are analyzed showing that they were aimed to be told in wedding occasions.

The Book of Tobit, from the Apocrypha, is shown, according its theme and lexicography, to be a wedding story. These different stories have a common denominator with some Biblical stories where the wedding is the climax of the narrative, such as the Scroll of Ruth and the wedding of Rebecca (Genesis 24). It is assumed that these stories, before they were committed to writing they were told in wedding ceremonies and played a role of Bildungsroman. In an appendix a new story is given: “The Wedding of the Daughters of Zelophehad”.

Chapter 5: The Song of Songs as Wedding Songs

This study is part of type-critical (gattungsgeschichtliche) of the Song of Songs. It aims to show that the genre of the Song of Songs is wedding songs. This hypothesis has been already known to scholars for more than 140 years. The evidence was drawn from cultures far distant, in time and in space, and therefore there was no agreement among the scholars whether to accept or reject this hypothesis.

This study is based on a few hundred wedding-songs sung among Jews in more than a millennium (and still a very long time after the biblical text was composed). The reasons supporting the wedding-songs hypothesis are as follows:

1. Content: specific words and motifs in the biblical text. These words are: wedding, bride, love, scents, physical description and breast. Far later Jewish wedding songs also have the same characters of the Biblical text.
2. Form: the dramatic character of the Biblical text is well known and a ‘modern’ song is presented (assumed to be sung in a new baby-girl ceremony). The song has the same concept, that is: mini-drama and duet between the bride and the groom as to make everyone joyful.
3. Use of the text: the idea is that the modern use of a text should be considered while looking for its genre, a concept already used by Mowinckel while analyzing enthronement psalms. According to this idea it is shown that many verses of Song of Songs are sung, until this very day, among Jews at weddings. This use should be taken as an indicator of the original setting of Song of Songs in its Sitz im Leben.

Special discussion is devoted to understanding why the text was understood allegorically and what made its type irrelevant to rabbinic wedding-songs. It is argued that in “Biblical times” the wedding-ceremony used to be part of popular religion and only in later times, under rabbinic movement, did the ceremony become part of the official religion so the text was understood as immodest (and therefore MUST have been created to describe Divine love).

In sum: different data are put forward and the comparison between known wedding songs and Song of Songs leaves no doubt: the Biblical text was originally composed as wedding songs.